On its journey to the Pacific Ocean the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped near here on September 2, 1804. At this camp the explorers' imagination and knowledge of military fortifications misled them into concluding that sand ridges and mounds left by Missouri River floods were an ancient fortification. Captain Clark made a detailed survey of these natural features.
Clark recorded his concern for Private George Shannon who, at 19, was the youngest member of the Corps of Discovery. He had been missing for five days after going in search of stray horses. He was not found until September 11. Clark explained, "He had been 12 days without any thing to eate but Grapes & one Rabit, which he Killed by shooting a piece of hard Stick in place of a ball. This man Supposeing the boat to be a head pushed on as long as he Could, when he became weak and fiable deturmined to lay by and waite for a tradeing boat."
]]>On the night of June 2, 1969, while on maneuvers in the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier Melbourne was in collision with the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans. The impact cut the Evans in two, the bow section sinking almost immediately. Seventy-four American seamen were lost, including three brothers from Niobrara, Nebraska; Gary, Gregory, and Kelly Sage. The brothers, 22, 21, and 19 years of age respectively, were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Sage, and had been stationed together aboard the Evans at their own request. This tragedy was perhaps the greatest single loss suffered by any Nebraska family of the many who have contributed their sons to the service of the Nation.
At memorial services in Niobrara on June 11, 1969, the Governor of Nebraska eulogized the brothers saying that "Every generation of Americans has answered the call to the colors. . . So it was with the Sage brothers who were serving in the finest tradition of the American fighting men. In the truest sense, they gave up their lives that we might continue to enjoy the fruits of freedom . . ."
]]>This has been the homeland of the Ponca Indians since earliest recorded history. In 1868, the federal government signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie which transferred the land to the Sioux without the permission of the Ponca. Treaties made with the government in 1858 had guaranteed their land to them. The Ponca were forcibly removed to Indian Territory in 1877. Unable to adjust to the climate of the South, many became ill and died. Among these was the son of Chief Standing Bear.
In January 1879, the chief and his small band left Indian Territory bearing the remains of his son for burial in Nebraska. When troops arrested the small band, white friends came to their aid. A landmark court decision, Standing Bear vs Crook, which determined that "an Indian is a person within the meaning of the law," did much to provide legal rights for all Indians. In 1977, Chief Standing Bear was elected to the Nebraska Hall of Fame.
A Nebraska reservation was eventually assigned to the Northern Ponca. In 1962 the reservation was terminated. The Northern Ponca were reinstated as a federally-recognized tribe on October 31, 1990.
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